13,000 National Guards troops’ enlistment bonuses unpaid in backlog

THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS IN THE U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD HAVE GONE MONTHS – EVEN YEARS – WITHOUT RECEIVING THEIR SIGN-ON BONUSES.

13 THOUSAND SOLDIERS ARE STUCK IN A BACKLOG.

ONE OF THE INCENTIVES IN JOINING THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD IS A BONUS THAT IS TYPICALLY PAID OUT IN TWO INSTALLMENTS –

ONE –

AFTER TRAINING IS COMPLETE.

AND THE SECOND – 

HALFWAY THROUGH A SOLDIERS’ CONTRACT.

BUT SIX PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE SOLDIERS ARE STILL WAITING FOR THEIR BONUS CHECKS.

THAT’S ROUGHLY 13 THOUSAND SOLDIERS –

INCLUDING ABOUT 4 THOUSAND SERVICE MEMBERS WHO HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED THEIR CONTRACTS AND HAVE SINCE LEFT THE MILITARY.

THE BACKLOG HAS BEEN A COMPILING PROBLEM FOR **YEARS.

MEANING THAT’S HOW LONG SOME SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THEIR BONUS CHECKS.

THE ISSUE – ACCORDING TO NATIONAL GUARD OFFICIALS –

STEMS FROM A FLAWED ONLINE “PAYMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM” THAT HAS CRASHED MULTIPLE TIMES AND HAS GONE DARK FOR **MULTIPLE 10 MONTH STINTS.

THIS FORCED STAFF TO **MANUALLY FILE BONUSES.

COMMANDERS RESORTED TO JOTTING DOWN REMINDERS ON DRY-ERASE BOARDS OR LOOSE NOTES.

BONUSES THAT WERE AS HIGH AS TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS – LOST.

INCLUDING THAT OF ONE SOLDIER WHO SPOKE TO MILITARY DOT COM –

SAYING THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF HIS 20-K BONUS IS MORE THAN A YEAR OVERDUE.

HE SAYS QUOTE “I was really relying on this money to help with moving into a new place with my wife. I did my end of things, and this is a really bad introduction to the Army, not taking care of people.”

COMPLICATING AN ALREADY COMPLICATED SYSTEM –

OFFICIALS NOW HAVE TO SEE WHO IS STILL ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A BONUS AND WHO HAS BECOME DISQUALIFIED.

OFFICIALS SAY SIGN UP BONUSES CAN BE STRIPPED OVER THINGS LIKE BECOMING OVERWEIGHT OR RECEIVING DISCIPLINARY ACTION.

FULFILLING THESE BONUSES IS SOMETHING OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE WORKING ON.

AND ENCOURAGE SOLDIERS TO BRING IT TO THEIR COMMANDERS’ ATTENTION IN CASE THEIR BONUS WAS LOST IN THE SYSTEM.

A DIVISION CHIEF COLONEL SAID THIS IN RESPONSE TO MILITARY.COM.

““While nearly 94% of our Soldiers eligible to receive an enlistment bonus have received it, we are working very hard to reconcile the remaining 6% because we hold ourselves to higher standards and believe one overdue payment to an otherwise eligible Soldier is one too many.”

ACCORDING TO ARMY TIMES –

MILITARY RECORDS SHOW “A PENTAGON SERVER FIRE” CAUSED THE ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM TO CRASH IN 20-18 AND HASN’T PERFORMED THE SAME SINCE.

STATE-LEVEL INCENTIVE MANAGERS STILL USE THAT SYSTEM AND MANUAL ENTRIES TO FULFILL BONUSES.